There are reasons why I tend to be skeptical with sequels, and as entertaining as it was to watch the songs of ABBA come to life once again, I left the theatre with a mixed feeling after watching Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again.
As a background, I actually saw the musical in Las Vegas back in 2008 before I saw the first film. And although I had a mixed feeling going into my first ever musical, I ended up loving it. I was quite impressed with the stage work involved in such a production. I also enjoyed watching Meryl Streep and co. acting, singing, and dancing, and that was a decade ago.
As my husband decided to escape the heat of Frankfurt by inviting us to watch Mamma Mia 2 in an air conditioned theatre, I said yes. I did not have any expectation (or so I thought), and was open to an entertaining 147 minutes.
Well...let's start with my personal highlights. I was impressed that they put a dancer in a wheelchair in the dancing scene from a parisian cafe, where young Dona and young Harry were dining. That's a BIG credit for inclusiveness. She - the dancer - was featured quite prominently and it's a joy to see such scenes in a mainstream movie. I am no activist or anything of the like, but yay to diversity!
With a storyline following two different timelines, with different actors playing younger and older versions in one film, you cannot help comparing the the actors, can you? For my part, I enjoyed those characters that seem to flow into each other, that the younger and older characters kind of match, those characters in which you have "oh yeah, they are definitely one person, I can imagine..." kind of feeling. This feeling of one character played by two actors I got most from the character of Tanya, played by Christine Baranski (older Tanya) and Jessica Keenan Wynn (younger Tanya). I thoroughly enjoyed their perfomance, which is more than skin deep. It might be easy to recreate the signature fringe bob and bold lipstick that Tanya wears, but I enjoy the feeling that the two actresses simply share the screentime of playing exactlty the same personality. Loved it!
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| Jessica Keenan Wynn and Christine Baranski in character (source: Instagram jkwynn) |
My third highlight would have been the young Bill, played by the talented Josh Dylan. Being the only blond among the three gentlemen who got young Dona in bed, he stood out for many different reasons. Besides his dazzling blue eyes, I found that the character of young Bill had the most interesting mixture between looks, charm, and humour, not to mention his hip moves while dancing on the sailing boat (which interestingly was shown exclusively moving with machine on during the whole film...) with young Dona.
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| Lilly James and Josh Dylan on set (source: Instagram _joshdylan) |
Now those were my highlights. Why on earth am I writing about the sidekicks the whole time, you might ask? Well, because to be honest, they WERE my highlights.
I believe that every actor has to have the freedom to interpret his or her character the way he/she sees fit. Nonetheless, I personally found it difficult to see Meryl Streep's Dona in Lily James' younger version. I guess it's the curse of a sequel.
I feel like meeting an old friend that I got to know a decade ago, only to find out that she was kind of a different person when she was younger. I can't really put my finger on it, since the acting was wonderful, and she embodies the traits that the older Dona also showed. But somehow, something bothered me there. Maybe the younger Dona was too perfect? Too perfect hair, perfect body? Maybe she only later turned into the nature loving, natural looking, naively pleasant older Dona after some years on the island? I kind of miss the simple beauty of Streep's Dona, her naive ability to see the positive in everything, and the way she stood out from the crowd not neccesarily because she was the most gorgeous in the room, but because of her charm....
Oh well, since even real people change, why not a fictional character?
Oh well, since even real people change, why not a fictional character?
That's why I loooove Tanya's character the most, because I totally can imagine that young lady becoming the older version of herself, still sassy, stylish and flirtatious as ever... Unfortunately I miss this feeling of familiarity with Dona's character. And since Meryl Streep's interpretation was there first...
In general, I can't shake the feeling that there are too many loose ends for someone who is keen in details, like the years and the age of the characters today (2018), like who on earth is Grandma (okay Ruby a.k.a. Cher..but you know what I mean...), and what was her excuse? We only heard from younger Dona that "she never comes". Okay. I guess we have to live with that until she landed in a helicopter as an (anti)heroine?
My better half was a teenager around the year when young Dona is supposed to graduate from college, so maybe we should not start discussing whether the cool outfits they wore back then were fashionably accurate. This is the challenge when you put a certain year, like 1979, into a movie, and not keeping it abstract, like 30 years ago, etc. Some crazy moviegoers might start doing the math or checking some historical facts, which is not always cool, but still.
All in all, lovely music, an entertaining way to stay out of this summer heat and enjoy some air condition. For those who haven't watched the first film, it's a fantastic way to enjoy some light hearted entertainment with wonderful scenery and music. For those crazy moviegoers, just chill out and ignore the details 😉 (#notetoself here).
Greetings from melting Frankfurt!
